1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method of interactive shopping, and for facilitating a collaborative online shopping experience.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the past decade, many advancements have been made in online shopping capabilities and in the interactive online purchasing of goods and services. Thirty years ago, it was unthinkable for one to complete Christmas shopping for the entire family a week before Christmas from the convenience of one's home computer. However, thanks to the Internet and various technical and product distribution advancements, it is now possible to shop for nearly any type of goods or service from the comfort of one's home, using the Internet and associated online purchasing tools.
Take for instance the improvements associated with the “One-Click” patent owned by Amazon, Inc. See, U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,400. This advancement in the online shopping process allows an online shopper to purchase any number of products via the Internet with a single click of the mouse, such that the payment information needed to complete the purchase and previously entered by the user is automatically pulled and utilized. Therefore, instead of manually inputting the billing and shipping information each time for a different purchase, the online shopper can use one-click purchasing method to use the predefined billing and purchase information and to expedite the online shopping and product purchasing process.
As technological and distribution system and method advancements continue to move the online shopping technology forward, it is important for online shopping solutions to address and attempt to solve problems realized by the traditional shopping methods in the interactive shopping arena. For instance, as one walks though the aisles in a shopping mall, it is often difficult to find detailed product information and summarized consumer reports regarding the products. Thus, prior technical advancements of associating product information with online images and shopping descriptions suggests that improvements can be made to the online experience over and above the shopping capabilities of traditional shopping methods.
Although the interactive online shopper may never be able to hold, inspect, and touch the tangible item for sale, the end goal in developing any interactive online shopping system should be to approximate the traditional shopping method, while making as many improvements to the process as possible, particularly in the areas that lend themselves to computational solutions and technical improvements.
Despite current advancements such as the “One-Click” patent in the recent technology space of online shopping, there continues to be many systematic problems with the current systems and methods. Thus, there remains significant room for improvements regarding the efficiency and facilitation of online shopping.
A particular area of concern is in online shopping collaboration. When two or more persons attempt to shop together, technological solutions are challenged to integrate an efficient and enjoyable online experience for the shoppers into current online shopping systems.
During a collaborative online shopping process, depending on the number of persons taking place in the collaboration, it is not always feasible for each person participating to be online at the same time. Thus, a latency issue may arise with respect to persons making purchasing decisions.
In addition, various computer users have various degrees of comfortability with computers and technology, including online shopping user interfaces. Current solutions to the collaborative shopping process have struggled to take into account the various levels of technical savvy of the end users.
Another area of concern is the problems arising from project shopping or purposeful shopping. Most Internet shopping experiences attempt to approximate browsing through an electronic catalogue. In this situation, shoppers identify items to put into a shopping cart or on a wish list. However, this is not particularly useful for facilitating a project or accomplishing an intended goal. In fact, the area thus far has developed ad hoc manual methods to deal with involved and often complicated shopping situations for events in one's life.
The present invention addresses the aforementioned shortcomings in the current art. The present invention provides an effective breakdown of the traditional process to take advantage of system technologies. In addition, the present inventors have developed a system and method whereby a more efficient, enjoyable, and user-friendly online shopping collaboration may take place.